Tuesday, November 30, 2010

As we do our weekly tally on penalties, we continue to see a massive downturn in penalty issues on this team. They will never completely disappear, but they are drying up. Every game of the Jason Garrett era, the Cowboys have had either fewer flags or fewer yards or both than their opponents. That must count for something:

Totals: 6 penalties, with 4 accepted for 19 yards. The offense had 2 penalties, the defense 2, and special teams had 2 as well, so it was spread out fairly. 19 yards in a game? For the Cowboys? There was nothing wrong in this department.

Worst Offender: Nobody wins this category this week.

Here are your season totals - Keep in mind, my totals include declined and offsetting penalties. For football reasons, they matter way more than just accepted penalties.

I have watched a lot of football and cannot say I have ever seen a Punter called for an "illegal kick" before. First time for everything.

Based on many requests, I have constructed yet another chart below that will help you put some of these numbers into proper context. Below is the week by week penalties that were accepted for the Cowboys and their opponents in each game. This way, you can see how Wade did vs Garrett or how the Cowboys did against their opponents in a scenario that would account for different tones by different officiating crews throughout the season. Enjoy:

Bob Sturm is host of BaD Radio on The Ticket 1310 AM Mondays through Fridays at 12-3 p.m. He also hosts The Ticket's Cowboys pregame show. Follow Bob on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bobanddan Bob offers his exclusive analysis after games on SportsDayDFW.com